Jo's "Little Bit of Heaven" - Jo Zane's English garden in North Carolina

Flower & Garden Magazine, May, 2000 by Tom Hewitt

Much of the beauty of Jo's gardens lies in the fact that they look so natural. This, as any gardener knows, is the hardest look of all to achieve. Allowing many of her annuals from the previous season to self-sow wherever they wish is one trick she uses. "Some of my favorite flower combinations," she interjects, "have come from accidents like this." The look is so convincing that it is easy for first-time visitors to conclude that nature is in control. Actually, the natural look of her gardens is due more to months of painstaking planning than to Mother Nature herself. In winter, when most people are sitting in front of their TV sets, Jo can be found in front of the fireplace with seed catalogs spread out on the coffee table. "I plan my beds and prepare my seed order months in advance," she says, "to get a jump start on spring."

Jo orders $100 worth of seed a year from just one company. "This assures uniformity," she claims, "and minimizes failures." Much of her success, no doubt, is due to her meticulous bookkeeping. Jo actually has a photo binder that perfectly accommodates plant labels and seed packets. If she finds something that does especially well in her garden, she simply looks it up in her binder and knows exactly what variety to order the following year. "This system works especially well for roses," she says, "since labels on plants themselves offer so little information."

Roses are a staple in Jo's gardens. In addition to specimens scattered among her flowers, she has an eighty-count rose garden terraced down the back lawn. Terracing roses gives them the drainage they need and helps show them off to their best advantage. Hybrid teas like `Double Delight,' `Brigadoon' and `Pristine' are her favorites, although she has several grandifloras and floribundas mixed in. Since roses play such a big role in so many of her arrangements, she plants a minimum of three plants of each variety to insure an adequate supply of each particular bloom. A soaker hose waters the base of every plant, thereby minimizing black spot and mildew problems that often arise from wetting the leaves. If fungal diseases or aphids do appear, the plants are simply sprayed with a combination of one tablespoon baking soda and one tablespoon dish soap (or insecticidal soap) mixed in a gallon of water. "This mixture is environmentally friendly," she instructs, "therefore you can use it as often as you wish."

Environmental awareness is important to Jo. She has a special place in her heart for native wildflowers and even has a large patch reserved for them alone. Every year she sows seed and lets nature take its course. She is a member of the Wildflower Garden Club of Alleghany County, a group of twenty or so serious gardeners who take field trips together and exchange plants. Jo is also a whiz at container gardening. She uses containers of every description to make what she calls her "miniature gardens." "Using plants that have complementary foliage and flower colors," she says, "will assure satisfactory results." Some of her favorite plants for container use include heather, scaevola, sweet potato vine and coleus. "Don't overlook foliage plants for color," she emphasizes, "when nothing else is available."